Mercedes-Benz quotes the dalai lama, and then apologizes

Mercedes-Benz

AFP

Wednesday, February 7, 2018 12:11

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Wednesday, February 7, 2018 12:11

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The German brand Mercedes-Benz has apologized for “having hurt the feelings of Chinese people”, after sharing on the social network Instagram a quote from the dalai lama, tibetan spiritual leader and bête noire of Beijing.

Mercedes (group Daimler) is the latest western company as of the date to be attacked in recent weeks in China for fake not on Tibet, Hong Kong or Taiwan, delicate matters in the eyes of the communist regime.

At the heart of the controversy, a publication of the brand of high-end cars, Monday, on the network Instagram, with the picture of a sedan in the sea.

“Look at a situation from all angles, you will become more open!”, indicated in the constructor, assigning explicitly the epigram to the tibetan spiritual leader.

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Mercedes-Benz quotes the dalai lama

At a time when access to Instagram is blocked in China, the message was immediately triggered a wave of reactions, angry, tone very nationalistic, the chinese social networks. The dalai lama, Nobel peace prize, is denounced by Beijing as “a wolf in monk’s robe” and a “separatist” – even if the leader of tibetan refugee in India, provides not ask for a greater autonomy for the chinese province of Tibet.

Before the controversy, Mercedes has promptly removed from Instagram the offending message before you publish Tuesday its apology in mandarin on the chinese platform of micro-blog Weibo.

“We are aware of having hurt the feelings of the people of this country,” he said, saying it was “deeply sorry” to have “published information extremely incorrect,” and pretending to be determined to “deepen (its) knowledge of the chinese culture”.

Mercedes was still referred Wednesday by an editorial in the vitriol of the internet edition of the people’s Daily, the voice of the communist Party.

“Mercedes-Benz, you’ve made an enemy of the chinese people!”, says the editorial, accusing the German of “gain gold” in China, the first global automotive market, while “humiliating” his people.

The british rock band Placebo had already announced last summer have been sentenced to a”lifetime ban” to occur in China after he posted on Instagram a photo of the dalai lama, resulting in the cancellation of an upcoming concert in Shanghai.

Similarly, the authorities shanghaïennes have to close temporarily in January, the website in mandarin Marriott, where the hotel group featured Tibet as a separate country.
The Spanish Zara and american and Delta Airlines have also been pinned for badly referenced on their sites, Hong Kong and Taiwan – the island’s de facto independent but which Beijing claims sovereignty.